Unbound Soul Side Story: Cluma's Feelings (Patreon)

To think I laughed at Peter when he was going through his human puberty. Apparently he found the standard Dawnhold armour design sexually attractive for some reason, so he was always staring at the floor around any female delvers. Thankfully, he's recovered now, but how hard must it have been to spend a couple of years feeling uncomfortable just by looking at the wrong people?

Alas, now it was my turn. Thank goodness I didn't need to deal with hormones like humans. At least, not until my first heat. Mum says the first is always the worst, and I'll end up practically locked in my bedroom for two weeks. But it's only two weeks, I told myself. The human version can go on for years! And ours comes far later too. The previous mating season had only just finished, so I had almost a year. I'd be well into adulthood by then. For now, I was expecting a burst of physical stats and little else.

Mum never prepared me properly for the smells. Sure, it's easy to say that you can sniff out fertility, but she didn't say it would be so overpowering. Now I was in exactly the same position as him, except that it was smelling people that made me uncomfortable. Why the heck do I need to be able to smell how fertile every single beastkin upwind of me is? Both genders, even! Fortunately, outside of mating season, the answer was a universal 'not very', so as annoying as it was, I could bear it. Even better, Peter was taking me on a trip to the Sapphire Peaks in less than a week. There wouldn't be any beastkin over there, and mum assured me that the overwhelmingness wouldn't last long, so hopefully we'd stay for long enough for my oversensitive nose to settle down.

Imagine my horror then when he arrived to pick me up, and I went to give him a big friendly hug, only to be hit by the strongest smell I'd ever smelt! I fell back reeling, trying my best not to let the surprise show on my face. I was about to spend a week or more with him! Why did he smell?! He was human! I made an excuse about getting my stuff and left him outside, grabbing mum in panic.

"Mum, why can I smell him?!"

"What? Hasn't he had a wash recently?"

"No, I mean in that way. He's human!"

"Oh, right! I completely forgot. He has [Xenophilia] doesn't he. Ha, I remember his dad back when I wasn't much older than you."

Mum smiled wistfully, apparently remembering something good.

"This is no time for reminiscing! I'm about to go on a trip with him! For a week! I... I need to drop out. There's no way I can cope!"

Mum frowned. "Sorry... You seem a bit sensitive even by the usual standards, and I'm not treating this with the seriousness you deserve. There's no need to cancel. Let me just whip you up something quick."

I followed mum into the kitchen, where she crushed a selection of herbs and poured the result into a small pouch, tying it on a bit of string and hanging it around my neck. It gave off a mild, pleasant scent.

"Here, this will help. You'll just have to keep your distance. Not far, a couple of metres should be enough."

"What?! How am I supposed to hug from that far away?"

"You'll just have to forgo the hugs until your nose calms down."

Forgo... hugs... What? But if a friend was in front of me, I had to hug them. It was how they knew I was their friend!

"Now, off you go. Don't keep him waiting."

I was still unsure, but I'd give it a go. If I didn't see a friend for a week, I just saved up all of their hugs and returned them later, so I'd have to treat this the same way. I'd save up all his hugs, and give them back some other time, once this stupid puberty business had settled down.

Of course, Peter very quickly spotted something was up. How could he not? But despite his concern, he didn't push his questioning, and I was able to cope. Mum was right, too; it did start settling down after a few days, and by the end of the week I was a lot more comfortable, even if I did still need to keep my distance.

All this puberty business actually reminded me of a question I'd been curious about. Despite him being an adult, I'd never once heard of Peter spending any alone time with a girl of his own age. At least, one of his own species. I didn't count. Fortunately, I got the chance to question him about it when I successfully evolved one of my traits. Trading one bit of sensitive information for another seemed fair.

His response was to crash head-first into a tree.

It wasn't that odd of a question, was it? From what I remembered of the village, parents would always start trying to pair up their kids the moment they hit adulthood. Apparently, his hadn't, and it was all to do with his reincarnation thing. Because his mind was older than his body, finding someone his own age was complicated, and he wanted to wait until they matched better. I suppose that made sense. I wonder if he had a wife back on Earth that he was still loyal to, as well?

And why was some part of me glad that he hadn't found anyone? It wasn't as if getting married would stop us delving. Not when he could teleport.

On the bright side, he seemed seriously impressed with my new trait. I didn't think it was that special. I'd always been dexterous; catkin always are, and I'd always wondered how humans could balance properly without a tail. Wasn't it natural that I could do more than him with the same number of points in dexterity? He had a biological handicap to deal with!

The fact that he thought he couldn't do it made me happy. Soon, the two of us would form a delving team together, and given how strong he was, I was a bit worried about it. What if I held him back? What if he'd be better off on his own, and only stuck with me out of friendship? If our positions were reversed and I was the strong one, I'd still want to make a team with him because he was my friend and that's what friends do, but if he was doing that to me I'd feel guilty, because friends don't hold each other back.

It was a bit of a contradiction, but it made sense to me!

Finding things I could do and he couldn't gave me some assurance that I could contribute something, regardless of how strong he was. Even if I was the weaker one, I would still have something to offer. Of course, I had other plans too; I was attuned to different affinities than him, after all. There would always be things he could never do. It was just a shame I wasn't attuned to life, and couldn't heal.

By the time we got back home, I'd recovered enough that I could even hug him again. I still needed to hold my breath, though, so I'd need to wait a bit longer to repay the hug-debt I'd built up. That was fine though; I'd never forget a hug-debt!

Nothing much of interest happened for the rest of autumn. The weather started to worsen, and as winter rolled in, the snow started. Winter was normally a boring time, too cold to spend time outdoors playing with my friends. But this year would be different. I had my job in the delvers guild, for a start, but halfway through it would be my birthday. I would finally be an adult! I could finally start my delving career!

I wonder what dad thinks about me working as a delver? In his last letter, he said he doesn't mind, but I can't help but feel that it would hurt him. He also said he was hoping to come back to visit for my birthday, so that would be nice. I think he paid for what he did a long time ago, and there's no reason for mum and dad to live apart anymore.

Two weeks before my birthday, another surprise happened.

"Cluma, can you come downstairs for a moment? We have visitors."

Visitors are always good, especially in winter. More people to hug! I made my way downstairs.

"Lucy? David? Darren? Why are you here? Where's Peter?"

"Cluma! Hello!" exclaimed Darren, hugging me around my legs. I have taught him well! Although it was rather strange being the tall one in this situation. Now that I'm so close to being an adult, I suppose I should get used to it.

"Peter is... hurt."

My attention snapped up from Darren. Peter? Hurt? "What happened?"

"We don't know. He teleported home one day like normal, but he was screaming, and he didn't seem to be able to hear us, or even know we were there. And then he just... switched off."

What? I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I did my best not to panic. Peter is so strong! Maybe even stronger than dad, now. How can he be hurt? What happened? "Is he okay?!" I asked desperately.

"We... don't know. He's in the hospital at the moment, and they say he doesn't seem wounded, but he won't wake up. And [Analysis] says nothing but 'human', without listing a name, skills or stats. It's as if he was an unnamed newborn."

I stared in disbelief. I'd never heard of anything like that before, and from mum's face, neither had she. It was nice of Lucy and David to keep us informed, and me and mum went to visit Peter every day, like friends should. But he just lay there, completely still. His breathing was so shallow I couldn't see it. He didn't look like he was sleeping, but more like he wasn't there at all, like he was a Peter shaped statue rather than a real person.

A couple of days later, there had been no change in his condition. Coupled with the [Analysis] results, everyone was starting to fear the worst, assuming he would never wake up again. No-one had ever seen anything like this before. Even my hugs didn't seem to have any energy in them. But, despite our fears, David came charging into our house one day without even stopping to knock.

"Peter woke up!" he shouted.

I was downstairs as fast as if he'd called that he needed a hug.

"How is he? Is he okay? When will he be leaving hospital? Did he say what happened?"

"One question at a time," he said, laughing. "He isn't good. He seems to be in lots of pain and is very weak. He was only awake for a few seconds, but nevertheless, he's improving. And [Analysis] shows his proper status now."

Thank goodness. Of course, being in pain is very bad, but it was better than never waking up again! I rushed over to visit again, but he was still asleep. Still, his breathing was better, and he looked alive now. I sighed with relief, hoping his improvement would continue.

The next day, he apparently woke up for longer, enough time to say that he'd been attacked by a boss in the great dungeon. That didn't make sense. He promised to wait for me! He wouldn't have broken a promise, at least not deliberately, so what was he doing in a dungeon?

The next time I visited, he was awake, but when David had called him weak, he'd seriously understated the problem. He couldn't even lift himself enough to sit up in bed. He couldn't even feed himself, his arms hanging almost uselessly by his sides. I ended up spoon feeding him some soup.

Was it bad that I enjoyed how embarrassed he looked at needing me to feed him? Why did I enjoy the uncomfortable faces he was pulling so much? It made me want to embarrass him more... That was kinda mean, but I couldn't help it. Besides, it wasn't as if he could help it either; it wasn't his fault he couldn't feed himself, so he had nothing to be embarrassed about!

He'd get better, though. I knew he would, even without my big get-better hugs. He wasn't the sort to depend on others. When I asked what he was doing in a dungeon, he said he was looking for something to help the twins with a problem they had, rather than delving. I knew he wouldn't have broken a promise, but I wish he'd take better care of himself!

I only got to enjoy playing nurse for one more day before he was taken to a Synklisi hospital, where they had a higher level healer, and sure enough, he returned a few days later in perfect health. I was glad and gave him a big welcome back hug. Or tried to, anyway. Being sick had weakened his smell, but now it was back with a vengeance. I had to break away sooner than intended to avoid being overwhelmed.

The family returned to their village, promising to be back for my birthday in a week's time. Of course, Peter would be back before then. With his teleportation, he could visit without needing to worry about the weather, and we had equipment to order. I had no intention of wasting time; the day after my birthday, we were planning to delve the Dawnhold dungeon!

He turned up as scheduled, and for the first time in a while, Adele was measuring me for my fit. I could pay for my own armour this time, without needing to rely on Peter at all! I'd been saving up specially while working all these years.

"Right, that's all the measurements I need," said Adele. "What enchantments do you want? Grover sent a message saying that if you wanted mana veil, he'd do it for you."

I like Adele. She's always so energetic, and always responds correctly to hugs, by hugging back harder. But in this case, she was going to need to put more effort into her explanation.

"Who's Grover, and what's mana veil?"

"Grover is a rank four enchanter that works at the institute. I'm not sure why he volunteered to do your enchanting. From the tone of his letter, he seemed to find something amusing. And mana veil is a stealth enchantment that..."

"Yesplease!"

The only stealth enchantment that the normal enchanter can do is silence. If Grover can do more, then of course I want it! And whoever he is, he's just had a promotion from stranger to friend. I made a careful note in my head that I owed him a hug.

"I thought you might," agreed Adele, chuckling. "But to finish my description, it lets you hide from mana detection skills, like Peter's [Mana Perception]."

I can hide from Peter?! Grover got another upgrade from friend to good friend, and another two hug tokens. But... there may be a problem. "He has [Mana Sight] now, rather than [Mana Perception]. Does that matter?"

"Nope. It's a rank four enchantment against a rank three skill. You'll still be able to hide from him. But the point is more to hide from mana sensing monsters than your own teammates."

"No reason it can't do both." It's just a shame I can't wear it all the time. I looked over at Peter, who seemed to be lost in thought, but I knew that he would still be on guard against surprise hugs, however little attention he was paying. Ever since we were both little, he always insisted on dodging the first one, as if it was some sort of game. He always stayed still for the second, but with this enchantment, maybe I could more reliably claim him with the first?

Finally, the day of my birthday came around. Dad really had turned up for it, arriving the night before. The conversation between him and mum was a bit strained, but they seemed to have forgiven each other, so that was good. They shouldn't be arguing.

Peter's family turned up early in the morning, so I gave them all good morning hugs. I still needed to hold my breath around Peter, and things hadn't got any better for a long while now, but mum had promised that after today I wouldn't need to worry about it anymore. I hoped so; I had a lot of catching up to do.

Anyway, why did Peter smell so strongly when David didn't? He had the pongy [Xenophilia] trait too. He did smell a little, but it wasn't overbearing. I gave him a big sniff to check while I was hugging him good morning, but nothing happened other than him looking at me funny.

More and more people turned up, all of my friends coming to wish me a happy birthday. Or at least, all the ones who could come. My friends in the Emerald Nest had sent a big letter, signed by everyone. I even had one from Tirrani in the Sapphire Peaks, and the twins had scribbled in it too! So cute!

Hmm... Would they be annoyed if I called them cute? They're like Peter, in that even if they're babies, they're actually very old. Well, whatever. They're cute, so I'll call them cute.

With all the people turning up, I spent all my time running around. It was fun! And then there were lots of presents. I don't normally get presents for my birthday, but this one was special. There were clothes, which would be useful, but maybe I had a few too many. There were toys, even though I was an adult now. And then Lucy gave me yet another parcel of clothes. I thanked her politely and gave her a big hug, because I was still thankful even if I had too many, but then she leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Everything in there is enchanted with silence and mana veil. It'll help you hide better. Durability and comfort too, so they won't wear out."

I beamed an enormous smile and hugged her as tight as I could. Maybe a little too tight, given how strong I am now. But Lucy is quite strong too, so I'm sure she was fine, despite the way her bones were creaking.

Peter gave me new daggers, with pinkish embellishments. Did he think I liked pink? I mean, it's okay, but it's hardly my favourite colour. Surely he knows that? But when I commented on it, he said it was a special material that made enchantments better, and it only came in that one colour. Silly me; I should have recognised it. It was the same colour as my rings!

Dad gave me a new bow, along with a quiver and bundle of arrows. They didn't make my [Stealth] better, they weren't enchanted, nor were they made from any special pink materials, but I didn't care. Dad had given me a weapon. There was no better acceptance and approval that I could hope for.

By the time mum came to give me her gift, I already thought my smile couldn't get any wider. It was an earring, which was strange. Not only did I not have my ears pierced, but no-one in our family wore jewellery at all. I had my rings, but that was because they were enchanted, not because they were jewellery. Wait... That earring was the same colour. Don't tell me! My smile grew even broader and my anticipation grew as mum leaned in.

"As promised, with that, you won't have to worry about your sensitive nose. It will also stop anyone else from smelling you, including monsters, so it'll improve your stealth."

I kinda hoped mum would stop there, because my mouth was hurting from smiling so hard, but she kept on going.

"It'll also block people from appraising you, make you even harder to detect when using [Stealth], and cut down on the amount of mana [Stealth] uses. Other skills too, but I imagine that's the one you care about."

I grabbed the earring and Lucy's parcel before running into our house, giving mum only the most cursory thank-you hug on the way. As soon as I was out of sight, I pulled off my clothes and put on the blue dress that was at the top of Lucy's pile. Despite looking slightly too large for me, it resized itself perfectly once worn. Comfort enchantments on regular clothing! That was amazing even before the extra effects.

I left my old clothes in a messy heap, instead of putting them away properly like a good girl, but this was important! I could tidy up later! And then the earring... But my ear wasn't pierced! What a blunder! How was I supposed to get it in? Could I just force it through? Probably, but what if I did it in the wrong place?

I heard the click of our front door behind me and spun around to find Adele had walked in.

"Your mum said you were in too much of a rush, and would need my help," she said, smiling.

Yay, Adele to the rescue! Giving her a thank-you squeeze, I explained my problem, and she pulled a pin out of her pocket.

"Where do you want it?" she asked. "The top of your ear, the base, or somewhere between?"

"Umm... Somewhere that's not too obvious. The base?"

"Yup, that would be right if you want it to be inconspicuous. If it put it right at the base, you can hide it under your hair. Now, hold still. This is going to hurt a little, so I need you to try very hard to hold your ears still, okay?"

"Yup. I'm an adult now!"

Adele smiled and poked my ear with the pin. I tried very hard to hold my ear still, but I felt it flick a little anyway. It wasn't my fault; they do that on their own!

"Did I mess it up?" I asked, worrying.

"No, it's fine, I got it."

Adele helped me put in the earring, and I activated [Stealth]. It... didn't feel different. But if everything was working, not only would I be invisible, but also silent and odourless, and undetectable to mana detection skills. On top of that, the invisibility should be harder to see through, although I'd long since lost the telltale shimmers the skill displayed at low levels, so I wasn't sure what effect that would have. It should use less mana too, and watching my status, I saw that the time it took me to lose a single point of mana had almost doubled!

I went running outside to distribute hugs to everyone I owed them to. Mum and Lucy first, for the amazingly wonderful gifts. Then Peter, because I owed him so many and could finally repay them.

He dodged.

Despite me being invisible, silent, odourless and veiled from his mana detection, he dodged!

He is so unfair!

At least that settled what my next class was going to be. Only two more class levels to go, then I'd need to take [Apprentice Mage]. I was going to win this if it was the last thing I did!

Darren helped out and nullified whatever Peter did to see me, letting me catch him completely by surprise on my second attempt, and I proceeded to repay all the hugs that I owed, breathing deeply, and feeling absolute bliss at the lack of people-smells messing up my nose.

With the main players hugged, I moved on to the rest of the party. No, wait, I'd missed one. Grover, the maker of these amazing enchantments! And of my armour! He wasn't here! I asked Adele where he was, and she pointed me at the institute. Vargalas worked there too, didn't he? Was he going back after the party? Maybe he could point me at Grover.

I went to ask, and with a big nasty frown, he asked me why. So I told him. I watched with amusement as, over the period of ten seconds or so, the frown gradually turned upside down. Vargalas then gave a single 'ha', the oddest laugh I'd ever heard, before offering to take me immediately on condition that he was allowed to watch. Of course I agreed; there was nothing secret about hugs!

Me and the elf quietly snuck off. The institute wasn't far away, and we should be back before anyone noticed we were gone. Particularly me; how would anyone tell the difference between me being there but invisible, and not being there at all? Vargalas led me into the building and down a few corridors, before I needed to grab him by the back of his tunic and give it a yoink.

"Oi, what do you think you're..."

His complaint was interrupted by the spray of white liquid that squirted out of the wall, showering the patch of corridor where he had previously been standing.

"...What?" he asked. From his face, I assumed that the corridors here in the institute didn't normally do that. I poked a bit of the stuff with my finger, and it was all sticky. I was lucky that [Trap Perception] picked it up, or else Vargalas would have got stuck.

Vargalas poked at the white stuff too. "Glue?" he muttered. "Ah. I see how it is. So that's why he asked me to mix all that up for him. That fool knew full well what sort of terror he was unleashing upon the world, and set up defences."

I nodded in polite incomprehension. There was some sort of terror coming for Grover, so he'd set up traps? Then how was I supposed to get to him to give him his hugs? Thank goodness I had [Trap Perception].

"How did you know?" Vargalas asked me.

"[Trap Perception]," I answered.

Vargalas grinned again. He had a really funny grin. I don't think he smiled very often, so his face wasn't used to it. "You'll have to go on alone from here, sorry. Turn right at the end of this corridor, then the second left, and it's the third door on your right. Good luck, and make sure you don't let the traps stop you!"

"I won't. No challenge will ever stop me from delivering deserved hugs. But what's this terror you mentioned? Do I need to worry about it?"

"No. No, you do not. I can state with absolute certainty that it will never come after you."

That's a relief. It would be bad enough needing to deal with the traps without having to worry about some sort of monster.

I activated [Stealth] and crept down the corridor, keeping alert for any responses to [Trap Perception]. Some of the traps were very cunningly laid, and I needed to dodge another shower of glue, then a rope net that almost fell on my head. There was even a pitfall I almost fell into, somehow dug into the corridor floor. I managed to avoid them all though, following Vargalas' directions and reaching the second left. There was a big sign hanging from the ceiling, claiming the corridor was closed. I blinked in confusion. This was certainly the way that Vargalas had told me to come!

Should I go back and ask Vargalas for another route? No, this must be another trap! If the terror got here, it would read the sign, then go away! In that case, it was meant to keep the terror out, and not me, so I ducked under it and continued down the corridor, counting the doors. One... Two... Three!

The door had no handle.

I peered at the door. Did it have some other way of opening? I gave it an experimental push, but it didn't budge. This was confusing. With all these efforts to keep the terror out, how was I supposed to get in?!

I looked around, and there was a hatch a little further down the wall. Did that lead into the same room? I pushed it open, but it seemed to lead to a dark tunnel. Climbing in, it was all horribly dusty, but the odour suppression enchantment on my earring cleared all the dust out of the air before I could breathe it. It was even more useful than I thought it was!

The tunnel sloped downwards and came out above a trough full of coal. That explained all the dust, at least. I hopped off the top, the silence enchantment completely masking my footfalls, and looked around. There was a dwarf sitting on a chair, reading a book, but all around him the floor was covered in little spikes. I paused as my [Hunting] skill stirred, and informed me they were called caltrops. Not that knowing what they were called would make any difference; I couldn't tread on them, and if I tried to move them, he would see.

[Inspection] confirmed that the dwarf was Grover, so I was in the right place! Looking around, I noted the contraption hanging from the ceiling that held several light crystals. It looked rather sturdy. I bet it could take my weight without shifting. And if I swung from there... I examined the chair for safe landing spaces and hugging positions, and I saw no reason why I couldn't do this. It would take all my acrobatic ability, and if it went wrong, I would land on some very painful-looking spikes, but such are the risks I must take to achieve the ultimate surprise hug!

I leapt to the ceiling and swung, landing perfectly in Grover's lap, and gave him the biggest hug I could manage.

Grover screamed.

ding
For performing a class related feat, you gain 1 soul point

"Don't worry; it's not whatever terror you built all those traps to keep out," I said to reassure him, ignoring the message because hugs were more important. "It's just me! I wanted to say thanks for the awesome items!"

I was happy that my surprise hug had been executed so well, but perhaps I had scared him just a little too much there. After all, if he's sitting here in fear of some unknown terror sneaking up on him, it was rather mean of me to sneak up on him!

ding
Trait [Hugger] evolved to [Invisible Terror]

Wait, what? No! The System has it all wrong. I'm not the terror! It's not me he's afraid of! I was just being nice! In a panic, I brought up the trait description.

[Invisible Terror] - You are the phantom hugger of Dawnhold, born to dispense hugs to all, without regard to position, wealth or personal boundaries. None can see you coming. No traps or locks will bar your way. No-one is safe. Any may be hugged, at any place and any time. Mana costs of all stealth skills reduced by 80%. Charisma increased by 5. You may bestow a small buff effect via hugs. (Rank 4)

Wait... I am the terror? I burst out laughing. The haunted look on Grover's face grew progressively worse, but I just couldn't help myself. That trait was amazing, and I just had to give Grover an even bigger hug to thank him for it.

"What have I done..." muttered Grover, in a hollow voice. He sounded ill, so I gave him some get-better-soon hugs on top of the thank-you hugs, using my new trait to apply the buff effect in the hopes of helping him get better quicker, before leaping off and doing a neat backflip over all of his caltrops. If he was ill, I should leave him in peace instead of bothering him.

"Thanks again for the awesomest enchantments in the world!" I exclaimed, "but it looks like you want to be left in peace, and I need to get back to the party before I'm missed."

Luckily, the door on this side did have a handle, so I let myself out, making sure to close it again to keep out whatever he was afraid of. I made my way back out through the traps, where Vargalas insisted that I give him a detailed account of my mini adventure. For someone who looked so unused to smiling, he was certainly grinning a lot.

As expected, I made it back to the party without anyone having missed me, despite all the time spent dodging traps. But that wasn't all! The humongous mana savings from my new trait coupled with my earring enchantments meant that I was regenerating mana faster than [Stealth] consumed it. I could be invisible all the time! I very nearly ran back to Grover to hug him again, but I just about managed to restrain myself; I shouldn't disturb the ill.

The rest of the party went great, but eventually everyone had to leave. I should have slept, but how was I supposed to do that? Today had been a day of great excitement, but tomorrow was too! I had armour to pick up, then register at the delvers guild, and then into the dungeon!

The next day came far too slowly. I picked up my armour, which, as promised, had exactly the same set of stealth-enhancing enchantments as the clothes Lucy had gifted me. I don't even know how she'd managed that; when I'd asked Adele for enchanted regular clothes, she said it wasn't possible, because the enchantments would decay in days. Apparently it was a new method of enchanting Grover had developed. Now I owed him even more hugs. Hopefully he would get better soon.

Before long we'd signed up at the delvers guild and started running the dungeon. I went the whole day only making a single mistake, but it was a big one. If Peter hadn't stepped in, I might have been injured. He took it well, saying he'd done similar things in the past, but I felt a bit bad about it. I really should have been more careful. Just because the monsters can't see me doesn't mean I don't need to worry about them.

The next day, it turned out that he hadn't taken things as well as I'd thought. He wanted me to enter the dungeon blindfolded. Without using [Stealth]! He even tried to claim he wouldn't protect me if I made a mistake again, but he's a terrible liar, so I saw through that one immediately. At least he explained his reasoning and what he was trying to do. He even offered me the chance for a bit of revenge, which I most certainly was going to take. Even after the productive day, in which I picked up a good number of skill levels, I still thought he deserved some embarrassment for letting me fall down the stairs! I trusted him, walking around blindfolded, and he didn't even tell me when we'd reached the staircase!

It had nothing to do with how much I'd enjoyed his embarrassed face when he was in hospital at all. Honestly! Why did I enjoy teasing him so much, anyway? It wasn't as if I liked teasing anyone else. What was special about him?

And so the next day, before starting our delve, I popped into the delvers guild store.

"Hi Adele!" I exclaimed, jumping at her and giving her a big hug.

"If it isn't little Cluma again. What can I do to help you today?"

"Do you still have Peter's measurements?"

"Yes," she answered, looking interested. "Does he need something? Why didn't he come himself?"

"Nu-uh. He's not allowed to know about this. You need to keep it secret!"

"Secret, huh? You're getting him a present?"

"Nope. Kinda the opposite. He bet I wouldn't be able to clear the dungeon before spring, so I need to make preparations ready for when I do."

Adele looked even more interested. "So, what exactly are you after?"

"A copy of the traditional beastkin progenitor's outfit!"

Adele started coughing. The air was a bit dry in here, with the freezing temperatures outside. Should I offer to fetch her a drink?

"The traditional outfit, or the child friendly version?" she asked eventually, after her coughing fit ended.

Huh? There's two? I was worried she shouldn't know what I meant, being human, but apparently she actually knows more than I do! "What's the difference?"

"Ah. Never mind. I was just getting confused in my old age. So, that's the outfit that includes the black and white dress, the frilly cap and apron, the fake ears and paws, the collar with a bell, the tail on a belt, the black stockings, and the heeled boots?"

"Yup, that's the one!"

"Thank goodness. Even if you are an adult now, best you leave it a few more years before... No, never mind. That's fine. And Peter really agreed to wear something like that?"

I tilted my head, wondering what being an adult had to do with anything, but yes, he certainly agreed. "His exact words were 'I'll wear whatever you want', so yup, I think I'm covered."

"Well, that's not the usual thing the delvers guild deals in. Normally I'd send you to a clothes store, but I have the time, and it does sound interesting. And I'm not sure someone who didn't know the two of you would... well. No matter. I'll do it, but I want you to send him over here to show it off."

"Umm... I'll try, but he might refuse."

"If he refuses, he refuses. Trying is good enough."

Yay. Embarrassing outfit obtained! It was a bit expensive for a joke, but I could afford it, and imagining Peter's face when he saw it, I felt it was well worth the money. Now I just needed to clear the dungeon. How hard could that be?

The answer turned out to be not very. Apparently, monsters don't have any sort of counter to me being completely invisible. It barely took four weeks between the day I first set foot in a dungeon and when I'd earned the [Novice Delver] title, having cleared the whole thing on my own while Peter was back in the village for Darren's birthday. I could have done it even faster if Peter had let me in on my own sooner. To be fair, the boss of floor ten was very scary, so I couldn't blame him for not wanting me in there unaccompanied. Particularly when the sages exploded, killing themselves and every goblin within ten metres, blowing me halfway across the room and leaving me with some nasty burns.

"Hit me with [Analysis]!" I exclaimed at him the moment he returned, with only a couple of days of winter remaining. I disabled the appraisal blocking feature of my earring and [Privacy], letting him see my full status for the first time in a while. I needed to make very sure he knew he was beat, after all.

I watched his eyes scan from side to side as he read the System prompt, and then his head drooped in resignation. With mum and dad it's normally the ears that droop, but since his are small and inflexible, he has to use his whole head.

Of course, the first thing he did was to complain about my burns, but there wasn't anything more I could do about them. After the potion and a [Heal], they weren't bothering me anymore, but he cast [Endurance] on me anyway.

He promised to face his fate with dignity, and after waiting so long for this, I wasn't going to waste any time. I hugged my friends at the delvers guild goodbye and dragged him back home and upstairs into my room. Fortunately, mum and dad were out, so we had the place to ourselves.

"Congratulations," he said, eyeing my wardrobe warily. "You get to spend an hour treating me as a dress-up doll."

"Yay! It's finally time for my revenge!"

"For being so friendly, you don't half hold a grudge," he complained.

"It's not a grudge!" I denied. "You made a silly bet, and now you have to pay for it. That's all."

"You literally just called it your revenge!"

"That too," I agreed, poking my tongue out. But it's not a grudge; that would require me to be angry at him. It's simply me being silly to him in return for him being silly to me.

I dug out the bag containing some of Adele's best work from under my bed. "Here's your punishment!" I exclaimed, handing it to him.

Peter looked at me in confusion, so Adele hadn't spoilt the secret. Awesome! I'd get to see his reactions as he realised I wasn't going to be picking random dresses from my wardrobe, and saw just how bad it was. Especially since Adele had gained a class level making it, and as thanks had thrown in some frilly underwear too.

"What the heck?!" exclaimed Peter as he pulled out the costume piece by piece. "When did you... No, how did you... What even is this?"

"It's the traditional beastkin progenitor's costume!" I answered happily. "According to our myths, the first beastkin was originally human, but she decided humans were stupid, overly complicated creatures, and that she didn't want to be one anymore."

"But... but... but..." he stammered, holding up the black lace panties, his face turning bright red. My whole body tingled with excitement as he showed me the precise expression I'd been hoping for. But as funny as his reactions were, I wasn't that mean.

"I didn't actually order them," I admitted. "The underwear was a bonus extra. I'll let you off from them if you don't want to."

He stood staring between me and the various costume pieces for long enough that I was worried that I'd broken him. "The hour doesn't start till you're dressed," I complained. Otherwise he'd waste the whole thing standing around in shock!

"...Fine," he muttered, scooping up his new clothes and taking them into the bathroom.

Five minutes later, a very different-looking Peter emerged. Drat, I should have got him a wig! His short hair didn't match properly, and now he had four ears! At least Adele had matched the new ears to his hair colour perfectly. How had she managed that? Did her measurements also include hair and skin tones? They contrasted nicely with the frilly maid's cap he was wearing behind them, too.

He wasn't wearing the paws, but to be fair, they did make it impossible to use your hands. I'd tried them myself. He was wearing everything else, though. Or at least, everything I could see. Did he put on the underwear?

The dress fit him perfectly, the ankle-length skirt flared enough to not restrict movement, but not bulky enough to be an inconvenience, and the long sleeves cinched at the wrists to stop them getting in the way. Unlike the paws, it was completely practical. He had the apron on over the top, the stockings underneath, and the collar around his neck. His tail hung behind him, flicked up at the end where it poked under the dress, but that was only because the tail had been made in that shape. It was a pity it was only decorative.

He looked so different that I ended up staring without even saying anything.

"Good afternoon, my lady," said Peter, gripping the skirt of his new dress at the sides and lifting it slightly as he bent his knees, one foot placed in front of the other.

...What?

There weren't any weird enchantments on that outfit, were there?

Peter burst out laughing. "Sorry. I'd make a rubbish maid, wouldn't I? Can't even do a (curtsy) with a straight face. Maybe I should ask Cliff for some tuition."

"What's a (curtsy)?"

"A greeting from Earth."

Wait... Hang on. I'm supposed to be embarrassing him here! How come he suddenly recovered? No, bad Cluma! What sort of friend wants to traumatise people? A brief burst of embarrassment followed by us both having lots of fun is the best! This wasn't a failure, it was a complete success!

A very weird success, admittedly, but who cares about the details?

"Please would you fetch me my morning drink, Peter," I asked, getting into my role and trying my best to sound posh.

"At once, my lady," he replied, turning and heading for the kitchen, walking awkwardly in his heeled boots, even though they weren't at all high. Then he tripped, stumbled, caught a foot on the hem of his dress and face-planted into the floor.

"How do people walk in these things?" he complained from ground level.

"They're easy to walk in," I answered.

"You think walking up hundreds of metres of vertical cliff face is easy. Your opinion isn't valid."

He stood back up, laughing as he walked more carefully, the faux tail swaying behind him, causing the bell at the end to jingle. The jingling continued for a minute from the kitchen, before he returned with an empty mug and a steaming jug.

"Your tea, my lady," he said, putting the mug down in front of me and pouring the hot juice into it.

"Tea?" I asked in confusion.

"It's the sort of drink you should have in this situation, but we don't have any around here. We'll have to pretend. It should be served in a cup and saucer, too. And I think you're supposed to do something with your pinky finger while drinking it? At least on Earth."

"Huh? What has my little finger got to do with drinking?"

"It's an etiquette thing. The sort of thing people only have to worry about when they're the sort of people who have maids."

"Yeah, I'm fairly sure neither of us know what we're doing," I answered, elegantly taking a small sip of the hot juice. Or at least, what I considered to be elegant. The opinions of actual nobles may differ. "I'm glad I made you laugh, though. You've been far too serious these last few weeks. Ever since my birthday. Or maybe even since you were stuck in hospital."

"Huh? Have I? I mean, this wouldn't be my usual choice of entertainment, but it takes me back to when we were little kids, playing make-believe in the village."

When we were kids? That meant he didn't see me as a kid now? Would he have taken me into the dungeon if he did? "Even though you had the mind of an adult back then, too. I guess you're into this sort of thing, huh?" I needled.

"Maybe? Letting loose once in a while is fine."

"Hah. Embrace your inner child. Or, you know, just plain embrace." I jumped up and gave him a hug to prove my point.

"But that would be improper, my lady," he gasped, doing his best to look scandalised. It actually made him look like he was holding in wind, making me burst out laughing.

"In that case, please style my hair for the day," I managed to squeeze out.

"You realise I have even less of an idea on how to deal with long hair than I do pouring and drinking tea?"

"Just do your best. I can always fix it later."

He took a brush and brushed it. It felt nice, but wouldn't really count as styling even if he did it properly. I just sat there and relaxed as he brushed the same area over and over. He really didn't have any idea what he was doing... If anyone else did this to me, I'd stop them. Why was I relaxing now?

Oh, by the earth mother! Am I really so much of an idiot?!

Why did his smell have such an effect on me? Why was I glad to find out he wasn't close to any other girls? Why did I enjoy teasing him, spending time with him, just watching him? Why did I worry so much when he got hurt, or feel so happy when he laughed? Who else would have gone along with today's madness with such enthusiasm? I'm an idiot!

...And I could never tell him. The knowledge would only hurt him, because thanks to his reincarnation, there was no way he could respond.

That should have hurt, but for some reason, it didn't. He was happy, I was happy, and just because I'd realised how much of an idiot I was, nothing had changed. As soon as he grew old enough that his age mismatch stopped freaking him out so much, I'd be there, ready and waiting. I wasn't going to let him get away.

When he started trying to plait my hair, I decided it was time to stop him before he did any real damage. But, since he had a brush... Perhaps I could be naughty. Dad had told me there was only one person I should make this request of, but now I knew that my one person was him.

"I've got more hair than that, you know," I pointed out.

"Huh? What other hair do you want me to brush? Your ears?"

"My tail, silly!" I exclaimed.

"Umm... I didn't think... We're not supposed to..."

"Only if it's unsolicited."

"If you say so," he said, before hesitatingly running the brush along my tail.

A shock leapt up my tail and my spine, causing me to yelp and jerk in my seat.

"Sorry," he said, wide eyed. "Did that hurt?"

"No, not at all. It was just... surprising." It doesn't do that when I brush it! No wonder we're warned against letting others touch it!

No, it doesn't do that when people knock me accidentally, or brush past me in the street, or even when monsters hit it. I can't even thank my armour; back in the Emerald Nest I was wearing plain work clothes, and when I'd first started hunting and wasn't very good at it, I accidentally let a snake bite me on the tail once. It hadn't felt any different from being bitten on an arm. Then what's up with it now?

"Umm... Try again?" I suggested.

He did, brushing even more gently but nevertheless causing as much of a shock as last time.

"I think I should stick to your head," he said, confused by my reactions. So he should be; I was confused too! But it wasn't as if it felt bad. I just needed to stop the shocks from distracting us.

"No. One more go, but I'll lie down first."

I flopped onto my bed face down, stretching my tail out high into the air before relaxing it and letting it fall behind me.

"Umm... Are you sure? From your reactions just now, it felt like I was doing something inappropriate."

"Oh? Is my maid going against the orders of his mistress? That sounds like it deserves some punishment."

"The bet was to dress me up," muttered Peter. "Playing around is fun, but it feels like we're moving out of role-play territory here."

Despite his complaints, he made another sweep down the length of my tail, sending another burst of shocks up my back and leaving me seeing stars. Thankfully, in my prone position, it didn't matter, and this time Peter kept going.

Shock after shock shot up from my tail, until they all merged together, spreading out from my spine and covering me in a pleasant tingling. It felt like a heavy weight was pressing down on my whole body, stopping me from moving even a single muscle, but rather than being scary, I felt safe and secure. It was... nice. It was also relaxing. I felt like I could close my eyes and be dreaming in seconds, but sleeping when I had a guest would be rude. Besides, I didn't want to miss out on this feeling.

"Keep going," I drooled when he started to slow. I didn't know how long it had been, but I'd be content to stay here all day. "No, don't stop," I begged when he slowed for a second time, but this time, he stopped completely. Was the hour up already?

I tried to pull myself up, but my limbs felt like jelly. I managed to look up at Peter, but it wasn't me he was looking at. His face was bright red, and he was staring over at my bedroom door.

"I'm sorry! I don't know you two were... I'll... Actually, I've just remembered some shopping I still needed to do. I'll be back later. Bye!"

Mum? "Mmm," I tried to call, but my mouth seemed to have forgotten how to vowel.

"Are you sure you didn't just make me do something inappropriate?" asked Peter. "Putting your mum's reaction aside, you certainly sounded like it. I've never heard you purr like that before."

I was purring? But it had only been a minute. Wait, mum hadn't been due home for half an hour! I needed to answer, and more importantly, to find out how long it had been, but the pleasant feeling of relaxation had turned into an inescapable tiredness. I needed to sleep.

"No, it was like the bestest massage ever," I managed to squeeze out. "You may... keep your uniform and take the rest of the day off as a reward," I added, aiming for imperious but spoiling it with a big yawn in the middle. As much as I wanted to fight it, my eyes were pulled shut against my will.

When they opened again, I was alone in my room, my blanket pulled over me. The sun had moved on, and it was late in the evening. I must have been out for a couple of hours. What happened? All that, just from asking Peter to brush my tail? Did I do something bad? I jumped up, disabled my odour suppression and sniffed at the air, picking up mum's scent in the house. She was here and dad wasn't.

I ran downstairs, tracking her scent and finding her in the kitchen.

"Oh my, up at last," she said as I burst in, wrapping my arms around her and sobbing into her chest. "What's wrong?"

"I fell asleep! In the middle of playing! Now what will Peter think?"

"Playing? I'm not sure what I walked in on earlier, but given the state you were in, I'm not surprised you fell asleep. It's okay."

"But..."

"It's the fault of me and your father."

"Huh?! How is anything your fault?" I exclaimed incredulously. Dad wasn't even there!

"Given how sensitive your nose was last season, we should have guessed that you may be abnormally sensitive elsewhere too. We should have warned you."

Mum didn't think I'd done anything wrong, and said Peter had left before she'd returned, but I still felt like I'd done something bad. I'd need to apologise to him tomorrow. I'd told myself that my feelings wouldn't make any difference, but then I'd immediately gone and taken advantage!

When the next day came, he was his usual self, and had no complaints about the previous day's events. Thank goodness. I just had to not do that again, or at least, only in moderation. He even said that he'd got a new skill, and was planning to improve Adele's outfit! The thought of Peter with proper ears and a tail was awesome. I definitely had to see it when it was done!

Then he mentioned my tail. In front of dad. Dad, who had given me very clear instructions on the one person who was allowed to touch it. Dad, who was about to spill that secret to Peter, and make things awkward between us forever. I wanted to scream at him to stop, to not say anything, but then Peter would want to know what I meant...

He sent Peter away, thank goodness, but he made me explain myself fully. I explained my feelings and why I didn't want Peter to know about them. Dad sighed and pinched his nose in his old 'I think you're wrong' expression. He didn't use it as often these days, but this did seem like the sort of serious topic that might cause it.

"Are you happy?" he asked, which was a silly question.

"Of course I'm happy!" I exclaimed, wondering how he could ever think otherwise.

"Good. Then I'll make sure you remain so."

I had no idea what he meant until the next day. "Cluma dear, we're out of tomatoes. Could you pop to the grocer and grab some, please?" called mum from the kitchen.

It was early morning! It was not a time of day that required tomatoes! It was, in fact, the time of day in which Peter was going to pick me up to go delving. They blatantly wanted to speak to him without me being there! They were going to tell him!

"Don't tell him! Please!" I begged.

"There's some change by the door," said mum, ignoring me.

I grabbed a few coins, but didn't move. I knew my parents were only thinking of me, but what was best for me wasn't necessarily the best for other people. Telling him would hurt him. By extension, it would hurt me. They must know that.

"Trust us," said dad. "Leave us alone for a bit, and I promise we aren't going to hurt either of you."

I hesitatingly stepped outside the front door. I wanted to know what they were going to say. I wanted to listen. I wanted to watch. I ran to the grocers as fast as I could, then turned on [Stealth] and rushed back to the house, but I was too slow. He was already in there. Dad had probably seen him coming before they sent me out. What had they said? I turned off [Stealth] and burst in.

The look on Peter's face made it obvious. They'd told him. Would he pretend they hadn't, and act as if nothing had changed, leaving us to both awkwardly act as if the other didn't know? Would he dissolve our party? Worse, would he force himself to do things he didn't really want to do?

As I stood there frozen, he crossed the distance between us in a single step, no doubt employing magic to do so. He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry for being such a blind idiot," he said, before planting a kiss on my forehead. Right in front of my parents.

Something new I learnt today; if a beastkin gets sufficiently embarrassed, rather than merely blushing, they can drop unconscious.